Zappa Plays Zappa
No one on this planet is composing music like this anymore. It's intricate, heartfelt, melodic, humorous, and takes talented musicians to play it. Too many people have closed their minds to Zappa's music just because of his lyrics, and that's too bad, because the music speaks for itself, and for me, lyrics are secondary.
Dweezil assembled a smoking hot band, hit the road, and now we have a document of some of these shows. This DVD has performances from two, maybe three, shows. The set list is phenomenal, although not one song from "Joe's Garage" or "You Are What You Is" (two of my favorite Zappa albums) is included. The audio mixes, stereo and DD 5.1, sound great. The video is clear and the editing is good, but there are plenty of spilt-screen shots, and the camera angle from the guitar headstock looking down on the strings, when used, doesn't show much. The video is presented in a widescreen format. Disc one is 1 hour 54 minutes long; disc two is 1 hour 34 minutes and has a ten-minute interview with Dweezil and "Cheepnis" as bonus features.
The only thing missing from this performance, that was routine at Frank's show, is the audience participation and general weirdness that was played out on-stage. And that's ok by me. I've had the pleasure to see Frank about a dozen times in concert and some of these theatrics were too much and I wished they had focused more on the music. You can only throw around an inflatable doll so many times before it gets boring. One gig I remember Frank did nothing but sit down in a chair facing the audience, smoke cigarettes, and conduct the band. I felt a bit ripped off that he didn't play his guitar or sing. But all I feel when watching this DVD is amazement and pleasure. This is such a killer DVD, the music is timeless, and hopefully Dweezil has sparked some interest for this music to a younger generation. Highest recommendation!
Dweezil assembled a smoking hot band, hit the road, and now we have a document of some of these shows. This DVD has performances from two, maybe three, shows. The set list is phenomenal, although not one song from "Joe's Garage" or "You Are What You Is" (two of my favorite Zappa albums) is included. The audio mixes, stereo and DD 5.1, sound great. The video is clear and the editing is good, but there are plenty of spilt-screen shots, and the camera angle from the guitar headstock looking down on the strings, when used, doesn't show much. The video is presented in a widescreen format. Disc one is 1 hour 54 minutes long; disc two is 1 hour 34 minutes and has a ten-minute interview with Dweezil and "Cheepnis" as bonus features.
The only thing missing from this performance, that was routine at Frank's show, is the audience participation and general weirdness that was played out on-stage. And that's ok by me. I've had the pleasure to see Frank about a dozen times in concert and some of these theatrics were too much and I wished they had focused more on the music. You can only throw around an inflatable doll so many times before it gets boring. One gig I remember Frank did nothing but sit down in a chair facing the audience, smoke cigarettes, and conduct the band. I felt a bit ripped off that he didn't play his guitar or sing. But all I feel when watching this DVD is amazement and pleasure. This is such a killer DVD, the music is timeless, and hopefully Dweezil has sparked some interest for this music to a younger generation. Highest recommendation!
